Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mimi Jones was born Miriam Sullivan in New York City on March 25th and grew up in the Bronx. Influenced by everyone from Sinatra to the Beatles to Earth Wind & Fire, The Doors, Miles Davis, Gene Ammons, Gloria Lynne and John Coltrane, her compositional style is reflective.
By the age of twelve she was studying guitar with her first teacher, Jim Bartow, taking classes in dance, chorus, drums, music theory, piano and composition at the Harlem School of the Arts which all helped her secure a spot at Fiorello La Guardia High School of Music and Performing Arts. Realizing there was no guitar program Jones switched to cello and eventually was given the bass spot in the jazz band. It was during this time she discovered her musical voice.
Mimi began her relationship with the bass by receiving classical lessons, attended the Jazz Mobile Workshop, and studied with bassist Lisle Atkinson who gave her first bass, a Juzak. She went on to receive a full scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music Conservatory where she studied with saxophonist Charles Davis, Barry Harris, Ron Carter, Milt Hinton, Dr. Billy Taylor, Yusef Lateef, Max Roach, and Latin bass techniques with Guillermo Edgehill while matriculating to degree in music.
As a leader her debut “A New Day” is filled with seamless original compositions and as a sideman she has performed and toured with such luminaries as Lionel Hampton, Roy Hargrove, Sean Jones, Kenny Barron, Kevin Mahogany, Onaje Alan Gumbs and Ravi Coltrane among others. The multi-talented bassist, vocalist and composer continues to bring her elegant sound is an eclectic mix of genres based on a strong jazz foundation to the world stage.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Curley Russell was born Dillon Russell on March 19, 1917 in Trinidad. Learning to play bass in his youth, the double-bassist by 1941 had joined the Don Redman big band and two years later was playing with Benny Carter. During the early bop period of jazz he became extremely busy performing and recording with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.
From 1947 – 1949 he was a member of the Tadd Dameron Sextet and became more in demand for his ability to play at rapid tempos typical of the period. During his short career as a sideman he performed and recorded with an impressive list of musicians: Buddy De Franco, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, the Art Blakey Quintet, Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, J. J. Johnson, Johnny Griffin, Stan Getz, George Wallington, Milt Jackson, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims.
Seemingly uninterested in the melodic mobility that was expected of bassists, he was never featured as a soloist and by the late Fifties dropped out of the jazz scene and left the music business altogether. Bassist Curley Russell passed away on July 3, 1986.
More Posts: bass
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Leon Lee Dorsey was born on March 12, 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The post bop genre bassist began as a child and matriculated through Oberlin College receiving two Bachelor of Music Degrees and the University of Wisconsin and the Manhattan School of Music receiving Maters degrees from both.
Dorsey’s chops for composing and arranging are witnessed on his 1995 debut album on the Landmark label titled The Watcher with Don Braden, Vincent Herring, Lafayette Harris Jr., Cecil Brooks III and Jimmy Madison followed by his 1999 release of Song of Songs that maintains a supreme sense of melody throughout the session.
He has performed and recorded with Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, John Lewis, Cassandra Wilson, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Clarke, Jon Hendricks, Gloria Lynn, Harry “Sweets” Edison, has played with symphonies, orchestras and big bands of Duke Ellington, Benny Carter and Charlie Persip, with opera diva Marilyn Horne and with Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall.
Bassist Leon Dorsey completed his doctorate in Classical Double Bass under Ron Carter and is currently Assistant Professor of Jazz Performance at the University of Pittsburgh.
More Posts: bass
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Wilbur Little was born on March 5, 1928 in Parmele, North Carolina and originally played piano but switched to bass after his military service. Steeped in the hard bop and post bop idioms, he moved to Washington, D.C. in 1949 and played with Sir Charles Thompson, Leo Parker, Margie Day and others. Little was also a member of a trio that supporting visiting jazz musicians like Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
Little’s wider recognition came when he joined J.J. Johnson’s trio from 1955 to 1958 and led to copious freelancing as a sideman with the Tommy Flanagan Trio, Sonny Stitt, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Kenny Burrell, And Clark Terry.
Never leading his own sessions, Wilbur recorded albums with Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, Bobby Jaspar, Tommy Flanagan, Randy Weston, Dave McKenna, Horace Parlan and Al Haig. In his latter years he worked with Charles Tolliver, Clifford Jordan and Barry Harris.
By 1976 he was in Japan with Duke Jordan, then moved to the Netherlands in 1977. He lived there for the rest of his life until his passing on May 4, 1987 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
More Posts: bass
ARTEMIS
ARTEMIS is a powerful ensemble of modern jazz masters, founded in 2017 by pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes. Each musician is a bandleader and composer and every performance encompasses inspired arrangements of classics and originals. Performances across North America and Europe at major venues and festivals have garnered high praise from audiences and critics alike.
It is no wonder that ARTEMIS has been awarded #1 Group of the Year in the Annual Downbeat Readers Poll in 2023, 2024 and 2025! Their third recording “Arboresque” was released February 28, 2025. The album is testament to the group’s evolving musical landscape featuring stellar arrangements and riveting originals contributed by all members of the band. Come hear ARTEMIS perform with joy, passion, and high-wire intensity – there’s no other band like it!
Renee Rosnes – piano & keyboard
Ingrid Jensen – trumpet
Nicole Glover – tenor saxophone
Noriko Ueda – bass
Allison Miller – drums
Tickets: $35.00 ~ $45.00 +fee | Streaming: $15.00 +fee
More Posts: adventure,bandleader,bass,club,drums,genius,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,preserving,saxophone,travel,trumpet